Low-income seniors in Lewis County looking to cut costs may be tempted to turn off their heat or air conditioning, leading to discomfort and even the risk of health complications.
Worse still, doing so does not reduce their daily rates as a utility customer and only has an impact on usage-based fees.
With that in mind, the Lewis County Public Utility District (PUD) board on Tuesday night approved a new pilot program setting aside a pool of $200,000 per year for the next two years to help low-income seniors shift to a sliding scale for rate payments.
With unanimous approval by the commission, which has members who’ve based their campaigns on rate steadiness and reduction, the program will go into effect on June 15.
The move comes as, this month, the PUD began cutting off uttilities for customers with bills that are past due. Staff have been contacting customers via mail, phone and in person.
The rates, according to PUD General Manager David Plotz, will be based on household income.
For customers age 62 and over, qualification will be based on their household’s percentage of the Federally-Established Poverty Guidelines.
Seniors whose household income is at or below 225% of the guidelines can receive a 50% reduction in daily rates, while seniors whose household income is at or below 150% of the guidelines can see a 100% reduction in their rate.
“We thought this is the best way to address the pain point for many seniors in the community who feel like they can turn the electricity off to cut back their costs, but it couldn’t affect the daily charge,” Plotz said. “We’re addressing that need in our district and our ratepayers.”
Other fees will still apply to all customers. The savings, Plotz said, work out to about $15 per month saved at the 50% reduction and $29 saved with the 100% reduction.
The PUD plans to advertise the program over the radio, in newspapers and elsewhere, as participants will have to opt-in; the utility doesn’t have, nor will it collect income data on customers. Instead, the Community Action Council in Lewis County will work with applicants.
In the two pilot years of the program, Plotz said PUD staff could provide updates on progress. Once the years are up, it will be possible to increase or decrease the pool of yearly allocations, he said.
“Right now, we don’t know how many people will take advantage of this program, we’re just going to do this program, report back and if we need to make adjustments, we’ll do,” Commissioner Ed Rothlin said.
Plotz responded, “Correct.”
The commissioners thanked him for his efforts creating the program, and Plotz thanked the staff, who he said worked very hard to develop it.
